Philadelphia Will Do

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July 18, 2006

Who Has A Vendetta Against Jim Gardner?

UPDATE: The NYPD has no record of Jim Gardner being arrested. This is actually more confusing than if he actually had been. But, hey, our hunch that "Someone was playing a really effing strange prank" was right! More on this tomorrow, etc.

Last week, I looked into the the inexplicable image on Wikipedia, which showed a newscaster in New York reporting on the arrest of Action News anchor Jim Gardner.

Obviously, I thought it was a prank, since I hadn't heard of Jim Gardner -- or his real name, James Goldman -- being arrested, and how would I (and every other media outlet in town) miss that? But this brought up another question: Who doesn't like Jim Gardner? And, even if someone doesn't like Jim Gardner, who would dislike him so much to Photoshop him into a random New York City anchor's image on Wikipedia? What the hell is going on here?

Well, today, there are more developments. First, the Wikipedia page of Mary Calvi -- where we first saw the image -- has been changed with a photo of Calvi reporting on a building explosion. But here's where it gets weird. From the "WPVI Personalities" Wikipedia page, the last line of Jim Gardner's bio:

On June 18, 2006, Goldman was arrested by the New York City Police Department in Manhattan for soliciting a prostitute. He faces a court date in New York City Criminal Court in October.

There are two references to this. One is a New York Sun article that doesn't exist, and another is the original image on Philadelphia Will Do.

So it's fake. Right. The Sun, if you didn't know, is kind of like NYC's version of The Evening Bulletin, i.e. a conservative broadsheet with a small circulation. And, so, how could that scoop all the other NYC papers? Okay, the Sun has some pretty good reporters, but it seems like the other papers (in NYC or Philly) would pick up on it had the Sun reported on it.

But that brings us back to our original question: Who hates Jim Gardner? And who hates Jim Gardner so much that he'd go onto Wikipedia and make it seem like he was arrested? And how would that even hurt Jim Gardner in any way at all? (Aside from being written up on Philadelphia Will Do, which I consider an honor.)

We're so confused that I actually picked up the phone. I have a call into the New York City Police Department. Frankly, I think it's more confusing that it's (assumedly) fake. As they say on the Internets, DEVELOPING...

Jim Gardner [6 ABC]
Mary Calvi [Wikipedia]
WPVI-TV Personalities [Wikipedia]
July 12: Inexplicable Image Of The Week

Posted by D-Mac on July 18, 2006 09:19 AM
Posted to 6 ABC , Crime , Jim Gardner , WTF

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Comments

"We're so confused that I actually picked up the phone."

Did I teach you nothing? Research is against the DPOSTM code.

Posted by: Sub at July 18, 2006 09:49 AM

Part of me hopes this is true, so we can start selling "Free Jim Gardner!" t-shirts.

Posted by: johndewar at July 18, 2006 12:38 PM

Since wikipedia keeps a record of every edit, you can see who did it (though it doesn't really reveal a whole lot) here.

Posted by: mike at July 19, 2006 09:41 AM

12:42 pm - the story is still up there on the Wikipedia site

Posted by: Paul, New Jersey at July 19, 2006 12:36 PM

12:50 pm - I'm a Wikpedia member; I'm pretty sure I just edited the offending section out...

Posted by: Paul, New Jersey at July 19, 2006 12:48 PM

I have a call into the New York City Police Department.

Why not just call Action News? Hell, maybe they'll even feature you on the evening newscast...

"But the big story on Action News tonight is Wikipedia's mission to DESTROY our very own Jim Gardner. We have an exclusive interview with the local blogger who uncovered the evil plot."

Posted by: Kate at July 20, 2006 12:47 AM

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